If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Roadfly Forums moving to vBulletin Software

Please don't comment on the move to vBulletin here as we won't be able to monitor each post. I've posted the same message in the Help Desk Forum, please comment there so we have one central place for feedback. (Link at bottom of page also)

http://forums.roadfly.com/helpdesk/9582828-1.html

###

To our members and users,

The forum software which currently runs Roadfly has seen better days. We used to maintain it weekly, regularly add features, and were very proud of how fast and reliable it was. While it's still fast and reliable, the features are nowhere near what they should be in the year 2010. When we first started using our current software in 2000 there was nothing available that could meet our demands. That isn't true today. Today there are great options which better serve the members and the Roadfly community as a whole.

After looking at a number of options we have chosen to move away from the old proprietary Roadfly forum software and go with the new and current vBulletin 4 solution. There are some pretty impressive features available in vBulletin 4 and we are excited to upgrade our forums and start adding the features which you've been asking for.

What has been done to this point (Monday, Oct. 10, 2010):

1. We have a beta version of the new forums running. We're testing features and configuring the software.
2. We've migrated over all of the old user accounts from our legacy membership system. Your existing username and password will continue to work.
3. Inner Circle memberships have all been migrated over with a correct beginning date and expiration date. Renewals will be handled by PayPal.
4. The very old legacy 1997 - 2000 forum posts have all been imported into vBulletin.
5. Forum posts from 2000 - 2010 have passed a few beta test imports. We're still looking for bugs and hiccups. There are a lot of posts!

What's next:

1. Finish importing all the old forum posts.
2. Try to get a Roadfly Threaded Views plugin working for those who want it.
3. Phase in the membership/user account system.
4. Turn off our legacy Roadfly forum software and redirect everything to the new vBulletin software.

What we need from you:

1. Please provide us feedback. We need as much feedback as possible to help keep this transition smooth.
2. If you're a regular user of vBulletin software on other sites and there are features you really like please let us know so we can test the features before we launch.
3. Lastly we need your patience and understanding. There will be hiccups that we won't know about. Please let us know about the issues so we can address them.

Some of the cool new forum features we'll have soon:

1. A new, improved, and fully-functional forum search engine.
2. More control over your user profile.
3. Option to view threads either in threaded mode or in linear mode.
4. Easy picture uploading/embedding with user photo albums.
6. Thread subscription/email notification of replies (optional, of course).
7. Private messaging between members.
8. Rate members and posts, up or down.
9. More control over ignoring trolls.
10. Facebook integration

Alan and I both know that change is very difficult. We are working very hard to ensure that the move goes as cleanly as possible. There are more than 10 million message posts which we need to take care in moving. We want to make sure we don't lose anything important in the transition.

Thanks for listening and thanks for the years of support. We'll continue to keep you posted. We hope to begin the membership phase in soon.